Seattle Eats

When the jet touched down, you thought of all those years you spent living here, not quite your home town but enough to call yourself a local, what foods do you rush to get? When I was living in Beijing, I came back for burger, pizza, and steak. But I am in the states now and Seattle is full of difficult choices.

First meal we went for Serious Pie. Locals know that they make half-size pizza during happy hour, so that you can get more pizza for your stomach capacity. The SLU (South Lake Union) establishment is less touristy, more spacious, and stocks a full bar. Yes, a beer for each of us and two pizzas: seasonal mushrooms and egg plus arugula.

Next morning came breakfast sandwiches from Dahlia Bakery. Their coconut cream pie is really to die for, but the breakfast sammies, served before 2pm, are the real local secret. I also recommend the beignets, imagine what clouds taste like.

To our own surprise, our feet took us to Starbucks’s Princi establishment in Capitol Hill. This tourist’s destination also houses a touristy Italian bakery that is clean, casual, tasty, and enjoyable. It is not a starred restaurant, but you can sit, eat, and chat for a long time and have a good time.

Of course we went to Blue Acre’s happy hour (on weekends!) to shoot down oysters at $1.5 each. The excellent bar has enough beers to choose from, but I always get my Mac-n-Jack here. When in Seattle, always ask for this beer, another local secret.

Pike Place called us and we picked a time to avoid the summer tourists for La Panier and Piroshky. It’s the best macarons. Their feuilletes gave us the smiles: yes, that’s what we remembered. Piroshky, what can we say, it is simply a must-eat when we come back.

Sunday morning, at 9am sharp, I was standing outside of Crumble and Flakes. They make pistachio croissants only on weekends. This croissant has crunchy pistachio topping and cream in the middle. I have searched elsewhere for the same, none came even close to theirs. While we were there, we of course loaded up a full box of other baked goods.

We ended the trip at Barolo. This place is the best happy hour downtown, but we came for dinner. Foie gras and calamari for appetitzers plus risotto for the entree. One of the best Manhattans from the bar.

Needless to say, we gained weight. Sigh.. That’s for the infamous later.